Looking ahead

3rd June 2020 - Clinical and Education Service Review Tomorrow Team

Tomorrow Team Progress

On Monday, I introduced you to the Organisational Structure Tomorrow Team. Today, Jo Kavanagh is going to give you an insight into the work of the Clinical and Education Service Review Tomorrow Team.

We hope you find this useful and interesting.

Next week, we'll be bringing you videos from the two remaining Tomorrow Teams, so that you can learn more about them.

1st June 2020 - Organisational Structure Tomorrow Team

Tomorrow Team Progress

The four Tomorrow Teams have now been meeting for a few weeks, tasked to look ahead and plan for an uncertain future.

Whilst the Tomorrow Teams are finalising their recommendations, and up until 15th June, there will be little news to report.

During this time, I thought you might like more of an insight into each of the four teams. This video introduces the Organisational Structure Tomorrow Team.

We hope you find this useful and interesting.

We’ll be bringing you videos from each of the Tomorrow Teams, so that you can learn more about them.

28th May 2020 - June’s Ask John Zoom sessions

Zoom sessions for staff

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that attended at least one of the recent staff Zoom sessions.

We had over 100 people attend with a whole range of useful questions being asked and helpful suggestions being put forward from you all.

For those of you that weren't able to attend, we have taken note of all of the questions and their answers and you can find these Q&As here.

Please note: these Q&As will be updated as we go along, so please don’t be worried if the question you raised isn’t on here yet! There were a number of similar questions in all of the sessions, so the duplicates have been removed.

Due to their success, I will now be running a weekly Zoom session for all staff – whether furloughed, working remotely or in the Hospice.

The date and time of June’s sessions are:

Wednesday 3rd June, 2.30pm

Wednesday 10th June, 8am

Friday 19th June, 12 noon

Thursday 25th June, 9.30am

You do not need to download any Zoom applications to LOROS IT equipment, just visit the Zoom home page and join the meeting using the ID and password details that were sent in John's email sent on 29th May.

There is a maximum number of participants (100) that can join each session, so please make sure you arrive promptly for the start.

Zoom session for volunteers

31 volunteers attended the last session and there were lots of questions and enthusiasm for us to host another. The date has now been set for the next Zoom session for our volunteers. You do not need to download any Zoom applications to your IT equipment, just visit the Zoom home page and join the meeting using the meeting ID and password details that will be sent to you shortly.

Once again, there is a maximum number of participants (100) that can join each session, so please make sure you arrive promptly for the start.

The date and time for the volunteer session is:

Friday 12th June, 10am

18th May 2020 - May's Ask John Zoom sessions

Zoom sessions for staff

Following last week's news about the Tomorrow Teams and the challenge the Hospice is facing, I know that this will have generated many questions.

In addition to being able to email them to askjohn@loros.co.uk, I am hosting three Zoom sessions this week and next week that will be available to all staff, including those on Furlough.

The dates and times for the staff sessions are:

Thursday 21st May, 11am

Tuesday 26th May, 4pm

Thursday 28th May, 8am

You do not need to download any Zoom applications to LOROS IT equipment, just visit the Zoom home page and join the meeting using the ID and password details that were sent in John's email sent on 19th May.

There is a maximum number of participants (100) that can join each session, if we have more need we will host further sessions.

Please note: All questions and their answers will be compiled and published for the benefit of those of you that are unable to attend a session.

Zoom session for volunteers

I am also hosting a separate Zoom session for our volunteers. As volunteers you are vital to our future, and will have questions of your own. Please follow the instructions above on how to join this meeting, using the meeting ID and password details that will be sent to you shortly.

Once again, there is a maximum number of participants (100) that can join each session, if we have more need we will host further sessions.

The date and time for the volunteer session is:

Friday 29th May, 10am

Please note: All questions and their answers will be compiled and published for the benefit of those of you that are unable to attend the session.

14th May 2020 - Tomorrow Teams

Creating a sustainable future

I hope this update finds you safe and well. Last week I spoke to you about the need for us to look ahead and plan for an uncertain future.

In today's video I would like to talk to you about the four 'Tomorrow Teams' that have been established to do just this.

Each Tomorrow Team has Board of Trustee representation and they will also undertake consultation across the organisation. It’s important to note that the groups will not work in isolation, indeed they are designed to work together and then make recommendations to the SMC and the Board of Trustees.

Wherever possible we will do that in consultation with others, however, at times we will need to act swiftly and decisions will need to be taken with limited information and perhaps without wide consultation.

The time frame that they have been given is to make their decisions is by the middle of June and then for these to be implemented by the end of July.

I have to be honest with you, we have a real challenge ahead. The biggest we have ever faced. Having researched the external environment and having sought opinion, we anticipate that the UK economy will drop by 30% and this is the financial impact we are anticipating in the medium to long term.

Simply put, there will not be as much funding available for LOROS and we will need to re-shape the charity accordingly.

The four Tomorrow Teams have been brought together to do just this. They will discuss, analyse and then make decisions about the future shape of LOROS. It has become necessary to gather these groups as we must act in advance, considering the very real downturn in the UK economy and the long term impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is going to have upon us all.

You will most probably start to hear people talking about the future and so I thought it would be useful for me to define three financial phases as we see them:

Short term is between now and the end of July

Medium term is August through to the end of March 2021

Long term is April 2021 onwards.

The four Tomorrow Teams are:

A Financial Scrutiny and Management Tomorrow Team led by Wayne Matts.

This group is charged with understanding all the different funding that is being receiving in to the charity, when it is arriving, from whom, for what. Then managing how it can be spent and over what period of time. This has usually fallen solely to the finance team however currently there are a significant number of Government support schemes (furlough, retail rates relief, Hospice UK funds etc.) which will be phased out and because of this our finances are most definitely structured in an unusual way.

An Income Generation and Business Development Tomorrow Team led by Caroline Baker

This group undertakes the work to generate almost all of our income and to be able to predict what is going to be generated, how and during what period of time. Knowing what we anticipate receiving is vital – so we know how to manage it and invest it in service delivery.

Crucially, in a less predictable world, this team will help us know what is certain, what is probable and what is only hopeful.

A Clinical and Education Service Review Tomorrow Team led jointly by Jo Kavanagh and Liz McIntyre

This group will be reviewing all of our service delivery both clinical and education. The impact of COVID-19, social distancing, infection control and many other factors demand that we think differently about the future of LOROS. It is simply unrealistic to think that what LOROS looks like in the future will be the same as we currently know it – it cannot be and we must adapt and change accordingly. This team will lead in the review and re-design of services.

An Organisational Structure Tomorrow Team led by myself

This group will review and where necessary change the current structure of the charity helping us to adapt to new ways of working and to different financial constraints.

These teams will work to create a sustainable LOROS - one that's fit for the future and that is able to continue to care for the patients and families that need us.

This is the biggest challenge we have ever faced and I know that this news will create many questions.

In addition to being able to email them to askjohn@loros.co.uk, I will be hosting three Zoom sessions that will be available to all staff (including those on Furlough). I will release the dates and times of these next week.

Thank you once again for your unwavering hard work and continued support.

7th May 2020 - Thank you and welcome

Thank you and welcome

This is the first of my new weekly video updates that I am sending to all staff, including those on furlough. My hope is that these will keep you fully up to speed on everything that is happening at LOROS, in a timely fashion.

I would like to start by taking the opportunity the send you all a sincere thank you for your amazing response to COVID. I know that some of you will be scared, some will be anxious and you will be worried about friends, family and colleagues. Thank you for stepping up, for finding incredible strength and resilience and for continuing to do a great job. To all the nurses, the HCAs, the doctors, the domestics, the housekeepers, the catering teams and to all those staff working all across the organisation, or at home – it is a privilege to work with you all, an amazing group of professionals.

Looking to the future

As many of you will know, the COVID Management group has been meeting regularly since the pandemic took hold across the UK. Having initially met on a daily basis, we now meet once every week and the agenda is turning from immediate reaction and response, to now thinking about and planning for the future. The challenge is that there is so much unknown – what will the economy look like, how will the community behave in the long term, what lasting impact will there be around social distancing, how will lock down be phased out?

I could go on – but suffice to say that we are committed and organised in our planning, albeit towards an uncertain future.

That said, I truly believe that this is not a time to be ‘caught in the headlights’ and it is incumbent upon the senior team and the Board of Trustees to ensure that we are indeed leading on shaping the Hospice’s future. Wherever possible we will do that in consultation with others, however, at times we will need to act swiftly and decisions will need to be taken with limited information and perhaps without wide consultation.

At the COVID meeting on 5th May – we had some initial discussion around people’s individual views on that future – the impact upon income generation, upon future design of clinical services, the use of IT and new ways of working, financial planning, retail activities, volunteering and much more.

At their meeting on 28th April, the Board of Trustees debated an approach to planning which involves four teams working both independently and then collaboratively to shape the future. These teams are only just meeting for the first time (this week and next) and so it is my intention to tell you more about them in the very near future – once they have established themselves. There are Trustees involved in each group to help provide oversight and an external view.

Ask John

We know that now more than ever, there is a thirst for knowledge - about our current situation and the future. To help, we are introducing these regular video updates from me, and other members of the senior team, along with the opportunity for you to ask your questions. We have already received some, so please do keep them coming. The questions that you ask will ultimately help us understand and address the things that matter to you, and they are bound to help and inform others too.

Email askjohn@loros.co.uk and your question will get answered and shared with everyone. Don’t worry, just your questions will get shared, not the name of the person who asked them. We will start to publish these over the coming weeks.

May I once again say a very sincere thank you to each and every one of you for your unwavering support of LOROS. There are so many stories of flexible working, good things happening, excellent ongoing patient care and a tangible energy to take LOROS through this crisis and on to a healthy future.